1. Technical Field
This invention relates to a locking device and, more particularly, to an adjustable landing gear locking device.
2. Prior Art
Semi-trailers typically include a road tractor and a trailer equipped with a standardized coupling system, which enables any type of trailer to be attached to any tractor. Loads of all types are transported by such vehicles, and it is not rare for these loads to represent a substantial amount of money, which naturally attracts thieves.
During transport, the trailers with their load are often detached, for example, while being grouped or de-grouped, and left waiting, to enable the tractor to be attached to other trailers so as to use the equipment profitably, with the equipment being specifically designed to enable such type of operations. To this end, the front of the trailer, which is deprived of wheels and rests during transport on a platform of the tractor, is equipped with two telescopic props maneuvered by means of a simple removable crank.
Landing gear assemblies for semi-trailers and the like use a cranking system with a handle which can be locked either in a storage position or in an extended standard position whereby the handle can be used to crank the landing gear up or down. Currently used props are almost all of the same model, each of them being constituted by two cross-sectional tubes sliding in one another, the lower tube bearing an base portion resting on the ground and being actuated by a removable crank. In order to steal the trailer and its load, one need only have a standard type of tractor and a crank to actuate the props, since the latter must be raised to enable their displacement.
For some time, thefts of trailers have increased, and up until now, no satisfactory means have been found enabling such actions to be countered, except for the use of security guards, which results in both substantial and repetitive expenditure.
Accordingly, a need remains for a landing gear lock that overcomes the above-noted shortcomings.